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Introducing National History Day today to my Student Historians went very well! I started each class with two short writing prompts (ones that would front-load students and prepare them for the 2017 theme): What does it mean to take a stand?How do you feel when you take a stand?
After class discussion partner groups were asked to come up with examples of people/groups taking a stand throughout History and those were added to a class graphic organizer. I mentioned to students my journey through Genius Hour in Effective Teens, the need to include this concept in US History, and my finding the National History Day competition. I then briefly walked them through the theme (Taking a Stand in History) and a rough project time frame. We ended the hour with student topic research and an online Schoology discussion about possible topics.
Students were excited and it was fun to see them make the connection between our discussion and the project theme. My goals were to excite, not overwhelm, th…

Tuesday was the Big Day--my Student Historians hosted a National History Day School Event! Students dressed professionally and displayed their Historical Exhibits, Documentaries, Websites, and Papers in the Media Center for our school community to experience. (There was one Dramatic Performance and this student performed in front of a small audience.) What a day we had!
Special thanks to our Media Specialist, Mrs. Chatel, for all of her help with research and detailed explanations of how to complete our Annotated Bibliographies--we couldn't have done it without you!
Mrs. Loch, a Media Specialist from two of our Middle Schools, came to help determine which projects would be eligible to enter into the Michigan History Day District contest. She previously taught Social Studies and had entered students into the contest. (Some were even selected for the National Contest!) She has been incredibly helpful this year and I'm grateful for her support!
The Social Studies teachers made i…

This assessment is an excellent example of how Student Historians analyzed the events that occurred during the Early Republic. They did a thorough job of answering the questions and thought critically about the events on their graph.

This video also gives detailed answers to the questions and analyzes the events well. The two graphs featured in these videos are different--this is due to different historical interpretations of the same events. Both groups have solid justifications for their events and those justifications were examined in class.
I am very pleased with the results of this assessment. Many groups surprised me with their knowledge of history and their knowledge of math--some groups used the terms "independent variable" and "dependent variable" when discussing their graphs--they were able to apply mathematical concepts to this social studies assignment with success.